


For You

by Threshie



Category: Until Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: AU, Blood, Climbing Class, Cold, Ending Fix, Fix-It, Gen, Heavy Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, What-If, gun - Freeform, suicidal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-20
Updated: 2017-02-20
Packaged: 2018-09-25 19:07:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9839984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Threshie/pseuds/Threshie
Summary: The scene I wanted the game to have--one where Chris goes back for Josh after the events of the "Josh lives" playthrough, and finds him in the caves before Josh can be possessed by the spirit of the Wendigo.





	

Shadows seemed to move from the corner of his eyes. There was the distant sound of water dripping. A cave—no, a mine.The mines. The air was harsh on his skin, like prickling needles in the dark. His own breaths puffed in front of him, short and rapid with panic. The place had that distinct meat locker smell—ice and dead things. Was he next?

There was light streaming down from the ceiling far ahead. It was a faint ray, barely there, but he stumbled toward it on numb feet like it could lift him to safety. It made no sense, but the light seemed warmer. He tripped on something and pitched forward, landing hard on his chest. It hurt, but in a dull way. His chest had already hurt, he realized, pushing himself up onto his elbows. He had to get to the light. The ground in front of him stuck to his fingers, though, and he stopped short. Wet. It was sticky, too, red—

He flinched and scrambled backward. How had he missed the trail of blood splattered on the ground? He wiped shaking hands off on his pants, but it just wouldn’t come off all the way, and his fingers were stained red. Suddenly the light didn’t seem so safe anymore.

Whose blood was it? The thought stuck with him as he continued toward the spot of light in the distance. What happened to them? Would it happen to him, too? He glanced at the darkness behind him, but going back was not an option. He could never go back.

There was a sound ahead, and he snapped his head around to look, hearing his own heart pound nervously. The echo had sounded like footsteps…

“Who’s there?” He called, voice cracking a little. The air was so cold that it was dry. He coughed and tried again. “H-hello?”

The footsteps abruptly stopped. He stopped, too, and stood frozen to listen. Where had the sound come from? Was it a person, or…something else?

Maybe he was alone. Maybe he was just hearing things.

After an agonizing moment of silence, the footsteps echoed to him again, and he held his breath, staying still and focusing on the ray of light. If someone appeared, then he wouldn’t be alone. He didn’t even care if they were drenched in blood at this point—he wouldn’t be alone.

He heard the steps rounding the corner before their owner ventured into the light, and he could have cried. Black rimmed glasses, spiky blond hair—an oversized hoodie jacket with a big tear in the shoulder. Chris. It was Chris.

The light caught the lenses of the blond’s glasses, and glinted off of something else—something silver in his hand. A gun.

He stayed there crouched on the ground, stock still and breathless, and wondered if the blond had noticed him yet. It didn’t seem like it. Was he here for Josh? Was he here to shoot him? After all that had happened, Josh couldn’t really blame him. Things had turned out so much worse than he could have ever planned for everyone.

People were dead. He’d thought he was the only one who would end up dead, had only ever meant for that to happen. Hadn’t counted on any monsters worse than him showing up.

He could hold his breath no longer, and a tiny puff of steam escaped his mouth. Chris, who had been looking around into the darkness, glanced at the bit of movement—and realized Josh was there at last. He froze, his eyes widening in either fear or shock, but he didn’t raise the gun.

“…Josh?” He whispered.

Why didn’t he shoot? Didn’t he know Josh set them all up? Maybe the bloody hands and disheveled clothes made Chris think that he might not even recognize his own name anymore. At the moment, Josh didn’t care. He heard a little whimper, and it took a second to realize that it was him who had made it. By then he had crawled over to the line where the light hit the floor, and sat there just beyond it in the dark, tears streaming down his face.

“Ch-Chris….don’t l-leave me, please. Y-you can shoot me, whatever…please….”

He’d deserve it if it happened, right? People were dead. His stupid prank got people killed. It was only fair. He had no idea how long he’d been down here, but it felt like a long time. Had Chris been stuck here, too? He didn’t want Chris to be alone like he had been.

All of these thoughts flew through his mind in a few seconds, but outwardly he made a lot less sense. He was sobbing, putting his bloody hands over his face. Chris would probably rather be alone than down here with him, anyway.

He flinched at the clatter of metal against stone, expecting a gunshot but still dreading the pain of it, and was stunned to feel hands on his shoulders instead. His chest ached dully again as he was pulled into a pair of strong arms and hugged tight, wrapped in the puffy layers of Chris’s oversized coat.

“Wh-what….” He tried to sit up and look around, but his eyes were so blurry with tears, and Chris was still hugging him so tight that he gave up after a moment. The blond was so warm—so warm. He buried his face in one shoulder of that big, soft coat and closed his eyes.

Chris hasn’t hugged him in years. Not since they were teens. He remembered the last time clearly—the day they met Ashley. Suddenly his best friend was not just his anymore, and they had started to drift apart. Where Chris had other friends, Josh had nobody but his sisters. Beth and Hannah…god, it hurt to think about them. Everything hurt so much. His heart felt like it was going to burst.

Why did Chris come find him? He had Ashley, right? He didn’t need Josh. That was the plan, anyway, so nobody needed him and he could get out of their way. Ash wasn’t here, though. It was just Chris, just Chris and him, like the old days.

He was pulled from his bittersweet thoughts when Chris stopped hugging so tight, started to sit back. Josh clung to him, not sure if the pleas he was whispering were aloud or not. Just for a moment, Chris had made everything better, and he hadn’t been alone, and he wasn’t ready to be alone again. Not yet.

“It’s okay—I’m not going anywhere,” Chris assured him quietly, gently pulling Josh away from him. Did he have a lump in his throat? He sounded a little choked. Maybe Josh was just imagining it. He forced himself to let go of the blond’s shirt, sniffling and wiping at his eyes.

Chris pulled off his big jacket and wrapped it around Josh’s shoulders, pulling him close to his chest again. He was wearing another hoodie underneath—typical Chris—and felt so, so warm. Josh hugged tightly around his waist the moment he was near again. He could feel Chris’s hand on his back through the thick coat, rubbing his shoulders gently.

“Mike said you were dead.”

Josh shook his head against the blond’s shoulder.

“H-h-he left me. S-Sam said we’d all get out together, but…she left, too,” he whispered, tearing up again. “Why’d you come back? Th-there’s nobody down here but me.”

“Yeah,” Chris said, sitting back enough to look at his face. His brows furrowed sadly, and he definitely sounded choked as he explained, “I-I came back for you. F-figured, y'know, you’d come get me and bury me if I died down here.”

He didn’t say it, but they both knew the next part of that explanation. Beth and Hannah had both died down here, and nobody had found them and brought them back to be buried. They couldn’t rest in peace.

Josh couldn’t find anything to say about that. Instead, he leaned forward and hid his face against the side of Chris’s neck, hoping the blond let him stay there. He knew it was closer than friends were usually supposed to get, but he couldn’t help himself. He was beyond saving, but Chris was still trying, and he was going to pretend for a few minutes that it was possible.

**Author's Note:**

> In the canon scenes the game gives us, Josh never finds out that Chris knew the Wendigos were out there and still came back to get him. Chris’s last conversation with Josh is when they’re tying him up in the shed, and they are fighting with each other. If Mike doesn’t make it, Chris doesn’t even know what happens to Josh in the end. These poor kids deserved better.


End file.
